New law would favor local contractors

Florida Keys News

Thursday, November 5, 2009

New law would favor local contractors

By Mandy Bolen Citizen Staff

City officials in Key West are trying to help local contractors by changing an existing law.

The proposed changes would allow local contractors who are within 10 percent of the lowest bid for a construction project to submit a second bid that either matches or undercuts the lowest bid.

The Key West City Commission on Wednesday approved the changes at a first reading, but a second approval is required before the local preference law becomes official.

At the suggestion of Commissioner Teri Johnston, the commission will hold a public workshop before the second reading to hear from local contractors.

"I would like to hear from the local contractors to ensure that we have a solid ordinance that actually helps our local contractors, who bid against the big guys every day on various projects," Johnston said, adding that she wants to close any loopholes that construction companies could use to get a job.

To further clarify the changes, commissioners added language that define a local contractor as one that has its business headquarters in Key West or within a 30-mile radius of the city.

Paul Toppino, speaking on behalf of Charley Toppino Sons Inc. construction company, asked for such a definition and pointed out that many local companies are based on Stock Island, Rockland Key or Big Coppitt Key rather than within the city of Key West.

Another provision to the ordinance, added at the suggestion of Commissioner Billy Wardlow, requires that at least 50 percent of the workers on a project be local residents, living within 30 miles of Key West.

In other activity, the commission also commended the city's staff for their quick and thorough clean-up after Fantasy Fest. City Manager Jim Scholl said Duval Street was cleaned up by 9:40 Sunday morning.

The commissioners also extended their condolences to the Butler family, who lost their son, Marques Butler, to a stabbing early Sunday morning.

Johnston suggested that it may be time to bring back the neighborhood watch groups to help ensure safety and report unusual activity.

mbolen@keysnews.com

THE LAW MUST REQUIRE 70 % LOCALS

Submitted on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 1:19pm

The new law must include that 70% of all workers must be legal documented residents of 33040 in order to secure any City or County contract. Just an FYI

Do I smell sour grapes?

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 10:36pm

Is this proposed policy because the Spottswoods didn't get the contract for the student dorms at FKCC? Is this how the city is going to become protectionists so this doesn't happen again? One major factor to consider in any bid is the experience the bidding contractor has with the type of project at hand. The bid is not the only reason to award a contract.

A Lot of Misunderstanding

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 3:51pm

Yes, I agree Shawn should go, but that has nothing to do with this ordinance which is legal. This does not give locals all that much of an advantage if you actually read it. Those bitching have no clue. Local contractors hire local people, they pay taxes here, they purchase materials and supplies here. This returns a lot of money to the local economy. Companies from outside the Keys are a bunch of carpetbaggers, coming here with their illegal workers and substandard materials. And a bid is not the end of it, it is only the beginning. There are costs not included in the bid like changes to the specifications which are charged as high as possible causing cost overruns like we have seen on every big project in the Keys. Must be a lot of out of town people on this site. DFS

Locals Start With an Advantage

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 6:56pm

More advantage doesn't have to be granted by the silly city attorney

When a local bids on a contract their labor and equipment costs are lower because of simple logistical proximity

Giving them a further advantage is not in the community intrest

But I do notice that Commissioner Teri Johnston who is pushing this is also a contractor

Are we to believe that this is pure serindipity or pure self intrest?

Perhaps it's time to thank commissioner Johnston for her self-service to the community and say goodby to her at the ballot box

The Toppino's

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 3:45pm

should take this rag to court and sue over all of the slander & lies that it allows in this crapcall a paper that is not fit to wrap fish in.

The Newsbarometer is

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 6:17pm

the one used for fish wrap and packing material

Here We Go Again

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 9:52am

It's unbelievable the City Commission is actually thinking of adopting this local preference ordinance. Perhaps the Commission should ask the city attorney for a primer on the dormant Commerce Clause of Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Trust me, Key West isn't the first town to try to protect its local businesses from outside competition like this. Guess what? It's almost never permissible. I'm sure it would make Paul Toppino's day, but he isn't the one who's going to be stuck with the bill for the ruinously expensive lawsuit that will inevitably follow. How many times does the City have to be trounced in court before it finally learns its lesson? Apparently every day is Groundhog Day here. As Casey Stengel famously said of the hapless New York Mets, "Doesn't anyone here know how to play this game?"

City attorney's Batting Adverage Can't get any Lower

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 1:15pm

Another ill advised position from the bubba kid attorney Shawn Smith

Smith brings a paramedic to court to revive him just in case he should actually win a case

bubba's Conch Consulaire Shawn Smith Must Go

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 1:10pm

Shawn did share an office suite with Manny James over the Lazy Gecko on Duval where Shawn 'practiced law' while Manny was the rainmaker down the hall ... then Shawn got all of that work for the school district ... then he was appointed to Manny James' old job as City Attorney

When will we be rid of Smith?

After losing the first one, he has us embroiled in another 'Ducks' case now this outrage for the bubba contractors

Smith leads the City Commission around by the nose and this is the guy who writes these stupid City Ordinances and once again he is carring water for his puppet masters not the intrests of the citizens

How can we make him go away?

The attorneys are licking their chops on this

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 9:40am

Another Anti-Trust suit down the pike!

This would be much simpler ...

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 8:48am

Quit spending money that the city and county simply do not have. When our property values drop by 50% but our taxes stay the same, you've effectively doubled our tax rate so that you can keep on spending. Knock it off!!!

Codified the Bubba System?????

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 6:52am

How very noble of contractor/commissioner Johnston

Shawn Smith has just led the City into yet another series of lawsuits which he will lose

Is there really a reason to give the bubbas more of an advantage to do crappy work at inflated prices??

Everyone knows this is not in the best interest of the City or its citizens ... just the usual few bubbas who will overcharge the City for the usual shoddy work

Shame on anyone who supports this measure

Please call your commissioner and the mayor

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 11:24am

My commissioner told me he has not recieved a single call against this passing. I agree with you that it is outrageous. If a local company can not be competitive, to bad. Please let your city leaders know how you feel rather then posting all your thoughts here and going back to your day.

Calling them

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 12:44pm

is like urinating in a 40 knot wind.

You must be an out of town contractor or play one on T.V.

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 10:22am

With a brain fart comment like that. Maybe you stayed at a holiday Inn Express last night. Most of the shoddy construction going on in this town right now and for the past few years is from out of town contractors coming in with to low of a bid. Then when the job is almost finish and they’ve collected the Lyons share of the money, they pick up there equipment in the middle of the night and bail out before completion because they're losing money. After which a local contractor is called upon to “try” to fix the mess the “out of town” contractor left behind. For a cheap price I might add. Also, not all “local” contractors or workers consider themselves Bubbas.

Very Classy

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 1:17pm

If the City "inspectors" kept their hands in their pockets perhaps the work would get done correctly the first time

Shame on you for trying to make it a "Bubba" issue.

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 9:50am

Do you even know what a Bubba is?? Go back to where you came from. I think this is a great idea. Let the local economy grow from this not all the mexicans and other cheap labor brought in by these big companies that care nothing about our community.

How's that Flagler Avenue Project Working Out For Ya ?

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 1:32pm

This City is a nightmare and it's in great part due to the entitlement mentality of a few

We need to hire Sonny McCoy to get to the bottom of all bubba ethical challenges.

bubbas are above the law and entitled to feed at the public trough . .

The Bubba System contributes so much to the community they are entitled to some perks.

How could the city and county Code Enforcement shake down citizens without bubbas and the years of blind double dipping of Special Master Overby?

How could Ed Swift sustain and defend a municipal monopoly like the Conch Train with out the bubba system?

How could a real estate agent who had never sold a house, become mayor and a realty developer without any experience, without the support of the bubba community and his Vice Principal wife releasing high schools students to wave signs for him on election day as a "civics lesson"?

How else could a struggling young attorney with scant experience suddenly get all of that school board work, start his own firm, and then become city attorney?

How would we count the cash from the parking meters?

What other than a bubba school board which spends more per student than any other continue to pump out more conch voters, only well prepared for a career in municipal nepotism?

How would the city and county sheriffs and police departments run if it were not for the conch code of ethics?

How would the Toppinos get all of those no bid contracts?

How would the Housing Authority hand out pension and health and welfare and subsidised housing to relitives and the connected, while parking valuable property off the tax roles until a bubba developer is ready to develop the land?

How would the Spottswoods fair if they had to face the permitting and variance process of we mere citizens?

And the Aqueduct Authority and Keys Electric??? Can there be better examples of cost effective and productive conch work ethic this side of the staffing of any city and county government office???

On the eve of the transfer of the most prime property in the keys, has the Bahama Village Land Trust still has yet to have been audited or has there been an accounting of their spending.

And least we forget the ex parte extraordinaire .... It's always a ca$h and carry bar at the affordable play house where the elite (and the wanna-be elite) meet with the unfrocked and pickled to break bread and cut deals.... judges don't bring their robes or gavels but everyone gets hammered regardless....

The Conch aristocracy bubba it up nightly on the taxpayer's back in their own private 'club' with their sweetheart $1 a year lease from the city for the Key West Yacht Club..... And just to rub our noses in it, the Yacht Club then sublets for a handsome profit, a healthy portion of the waterfront property it leases from the city for $1 a year .... Break the bubba lease let them sue for the $1 per year for the balance of the 100 year lease and turn the property into a rateable ...

And some say the conchs don't serve the community well. The bubbas have a long and honored tradition of community self-service and here I've enumerated just a few ... so why not make the bubba system LAW. Shawn Smith can lose that lawsuit too and we will pay while the bubbas play

And don't forget their support groups. They couldn't continue these prosperous traditions without the compliant sophistry of the local press and our local justice system (how's Harry Bethel's son's arson prosecution progressing?)

Kiss a bubba/conch today thank him for all he does for the community each day ..... and then just hand over your wallet.

Amen.........

Submitted on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 10:20am

No need to hand over your wallet. They pulled it out of your pocket when you were shaken down...

LMAO!!!!

Submitted on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 6:59am

That post was really funny and the best definition of Bubbaism in Key West I have read. This should be an editorial in the paper. Most of the people living here would be total failures anywhere else. Imagine having to compete based on merit. The Spottswoods own half the island and own a bunch of rotting motels at the entrance to Key West that they are doing nothing with. These motels are hurting the city's tourist reputation since they are dumps. The Spottswoods put the project to renovate them on hold. What does the city do? The city then awards them the right to build a marina with our tax dollars. Only in Key West kids, Only in Key West.

It does look like a good idea

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 1:16pm

until you realize it is being done for Bubba Toppino and is most likely illegal. It will cost the city thousands, if not millions, in court costs and lawsuits. They are sealed bids for a reason. If Toppino is willing to do the job at a certain price, then he needs to bid the price from the start, not wait and see if anyone underbids him.

Just a plain stupid idea

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 9:13am

I couldn't agree more with the last post. Key West contractors do horrible work and they wonder why the bigger guys who have better quality and can actually get it done on time, get the big jobs. Great plan idiots! Tell the KW contractors(if you can get them to show up), to give a descent bid the first.

Exactly Right

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 8:36am

If they will do this, then why not open out-cry system, like they sell cattle? Sealed bids at this point become a joke. This is CERTAINLY a way to show favoritism to some political ally or supporter, under the ruse of keeping the money here.

New law would favor local contractors

Submitted on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 8:00am

What if more than one local contractor is within 10% of the lowest bid? Or if one local contractor has the lowest bid and another local contractor is within 10% of the first, do we start a bidding war. Are we going to be forced to use a substandard contractor just because they have the lowest bid? We need to be aware of contractors who lowball their bid to get a contract then inflate their price with change orders.

A recipe for disaster

Submitted on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 9:01am

Such preference ordinances are legally suspect and almost always a politcal sop to influential ``local'' contractors and developers. They inevitably cost the local government more money in the long run with the accompanying change orders, modifications and revisions that drive up the cost _ and the subsequent profit to the contractors _ after the bids are awarded. In the relatively brief time I have lived in Key West, I am constantly struck by the stunning level of corruption in local government agencies, characterized by nepotism, old-boyism, old-girlism and too many other isms to list.

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